21may04

UN rights boss concerned over Iraq "wedding" strike.

The top United Nations human rights official
voiced concern on Friday over a U.S. air strike in Iraq which killed
about 40 people near the Syrian border, saying security fears were
"no licence to commit carnage".

In a statement, Bertrand Ramcharan, acting U.N. High Commissioner for
Human Rights, expressed shock over the deaths of "some 40 civilians
at a wedding party" near Qaim on Wednesday.

The U.S. military said it had attacked a "suspected foreign fighter
safe house" near the Syrian border, killing around 40 people. But
witnesses said the victims were celebrating a wedding.

In Baghdad, U.S. military spokesman Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt told a
news conference the military was investigating reports that those killed
were at a wedding, and that four to six of the dead were women.

Ramcharan said it was the occupying forces' responsibility to ensure the
safety of Iraqi civilians and to "refrain from excessive use of force
and indiscriminate attacks".

"The acting High Commissioner calls upon all belligerents to respect
human rights and humanitarian law, and to demonstrate at all times
paramount concern for the safety and protection of civilians. He
reiterates that even if there are security-related concerns, there
can be no licence to commit carnage," he said.

Ramcharan has ordered a U.N. report into the human rights situation
in Iraq over the past year, which is due by the end a month.

[Source: ONU, Reuters, Geneva, 21May04]

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